Africa: Agriculture

Lord Avebury: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What steps they are taking to help African countries to increase agricultural productivity; and whether they will offer to fund the education of other African states about Malawi's seed and fertiliser voucher scheme.

Lord Tunnicliffe: The Department for International Development (DfID) supports African agriculture through global research, financing multilateral institutions, regional initiatives and country programmes.
	For example, DfID is committing £133 million over the next five years to back research, technology development and its dissemination for Africa. DfID was the largest contributor to the World Bank International Development Association's recent replenishment, and multilateral support is an effective channel for financing agriculture.
	DfID supports a programme with the World Bank which will disseminate lessons learned in one country, such as Malawi's experience with support to its fertiliser markets, more widely in the region. DfID also provides support to the Futures Agriculture Consortium which financed an evaluation of the Malawi Agriculture Inputs Subsidy Programme, and is disseminating lessons learned through direct engagement with African policy makers.
	DfID has committed £5 million to support the Comprehensive African Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP), which champions the African agenda for agriculture agreed by African leaders. Through CAADP, African Governments are committed to raising agricultural productivity by at least 6 per cent per year.
	DfID is the first bilateral donor to provide core funding to the Alliance for the Green Revolution in Africa, a major partnership with the Gates and Rockefeller Foundations, aimed at increasing African agricultural productivity.

Burma: Cyclone Nargis

Lord Alton of Liverpool: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What is the likely impact of Cyclone Nargis on the ability of Burma to produce sufficient food to feed its population over the next 12 months; what information they have about the flooding of paddy fields in Burma with salt water, following the cyclone; and whether salt-resistant strains of rice can be made available for planting.

Lord Tunnicliffe: Cyclone Nargis has devastated an important rice growing area shortly before the rice planting season begins. An estimated 200,000 acres are affected by salt water. Initial estimates suggest rice production in affected areas may fall by as much as 85 per cent.
	The UN Food and Agricultural Organisation is working with the UN development programme on plans to quickly distribute salt-resistant rice strain seeds to affected communities to enable what rice planting may be possible and assist in the early recovery of livelihoods. We expect to see these proposals very soon.

Burma: Cyclone Nargis

Lord Alton of Liverpool: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What discussions they have had with members of the Association of South East Asian Nations, in particular China, Indonesia and Thailand, to enlist their help in persuading the Burmese authorities to allow humanitarian agencies appropriate access, following Cyclone Nargis.

Lord Tunnicliffe: Since Cyclone Nargis hit Burma, the UK Government have had intensive diplomatic exchanges at ministerial and senior official level with key international partners, including ASEAN members and China, about persuading the Burmese authorities to allow greater access to those in need.
	As part of this effort, government Ministers have spoken to counterparts in China, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei and Cambodia.

Burma: Cyclone Nargis

Lord Hylton: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they will hold urgent discussions with India, Japan and China about relief and reconstruction in Burma following Cyclone Nargis; and
	Whether they will hold urgent discussions with India, Japan and China about relief and reconstruction in Burma following Cyclone Nargis.

Lord Tunnicliffe: Since Cyclone Nargis hit Burma, the UK Government have had intensive diplomatic exchanges at ministerial and senior official level with key international partners about what they can do to increase the delivery of international aid and to persuade the Burmese authorities to allow greater access.
	As part of this effort, the Prime Minister has spoken to the Indian Prime Minister and Lord Malloch-Brown has spoken to the Indian Foreign Secretary. The Foreign Secretary has written to his Chinese counterpart and the International Development Secretary has spoken to the Chinese ambassador. The British embassy in Tokyo has been in ongoing contact with the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Democratic Republic of Congo

Baroness Tonge: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What assistance they have provided regarding the recent outbreak of cholera in North Kivu province in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

Lord Tunnicliffe: In North Kivu, cholera is endemic and a recurring menace to the population; especially the displaced. The recent outbreak in Rutshuru territory has now been brought under control by humanitarian agencies, with no reported cases in the week 17 to 23 May 2008 and only 25 cases the week before that. UNICEF provided potable water and emergency sanitation to which the Department for International Development (DfID) contributed through the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) pooled fund. In 2007, UNICEF received over £3.5 million from the pooled funding and the Central Emergency Revolving Fund (CERF) for emergency water and sanitation work in DRC. DfID is the main contributor to both these funds and in 2007 contributed £30 million to the pooled fund and over £40 million to the CERF.
	Another important part of the response to the cholera outbreak came from Médecins Sans Frontières which provided emergency medical cholera treatment centres. Their work was not funded by DfID.

Global Health Partnerships

Baroness Northover: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Following their response to Lord Crisp's report on Global Health Partnerships, what discussions there have been between government departments and with relevant stakeholders to address barriers to volunteering on development and relief programmes such as: the lack of effective coordination; continuity of salaries and pensions; training, accreditation and revalidation processes; and prospects for re-entry to the same or an equivalent job.

Lord Tunnicliffe: Discussions on the implementation of our response to the Crisp report have taken place within the Department of Health (DH) and the Department for International Development (DfID). We have also had discussions with a variety of stakeholders, including the British Medical Association and other professional associations, and we are working together to develop a joint approach to resolve barriers to volunteering on development and relief programmes. A cross-departmental fund has been developed to pay the pension contributions of volunteers.
	We recently presented our initial thoughts on taking forward this work at two meetings, one hosted by the Royal College of Physicians and a second by the Faculty of Public Health. DH and DfID will also be attending a meeting to mark the 20th anniversary of the Tropical Health Education Trust. This will provide a further opportunity to take these areas forward with interested stakeholders.

Sudan: Humanitarian Aid

Lord Rana: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How they are distributing humanitarian aid to non-governmental organisations in southern Sudan.

Lord Tunnicliffe: The Department for International Development (DfID) provides humanitarian aid to southern Sudan through the Common Humanitarian Fund (CHF). Under the supervision of the UN's Humanitarian Co-ordinator, the CHF allocates money for priority humanitarian needs across Sudan. DfID provided £40 million for 2008, 43 per cent of which went to the south. Forty per cent of the total was channelled through non-governmental organisations (NGOs). DfID has been instrumental in improving the allocation mechanism within the CHF, including increasing the proportion allocated to NGOs.
	As recovery needs start to outweigh humanitarian needs in the South, DfID is supporting NGOs to address the transition through the Basic Services Fund (BSF). We have given £11.7 million, including £8.3 million in 2007-08, through the BSF, which funds NGOs to deliver services such as health, education and water and sanitation in southern Sudan. So far the BSF has funded 714 latrines serving 11,000 people; improvements to drinking water for 5,000 people; 32,000 health consultations; and 2000 additional children to attend school.

Yemen: Asylum Seekers

Baroness Tonge: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What is their response to the recent call from the United Nations Refugee Agency on the international community to increase support for the Republic of Yemen to help it deal with the growing influx of African asylum seekers, who are mostly Somalis.

Lord Tunnicliffe: The UK Government have been supporting those organisations best placed to meet the refugee challenge for a number of years. The UK provides 17 per cent of the funds of the European Commission (EC) development budget of which €1.7 million has been provided to UNHCR in Yemen for the period January 2008 until mid-2009. This funding supports activities including risk assessment for vulnerable groups, improved reception and registration and provision of basic services for refugees. All of these activities are co-ordinated with other organisations which are supporting programmes for refugees (for example, the Danish refugee council, ADRA, Save the Children Sweden). The UK also provides core funding to the UNHCR directly, a proportion of which will support operations in the Yemen. In 2006 (latest figures available) this support was $51.9 million.
	The support to EC and UNHCR is additional to the UK's core development programme in the Yemen. In recognition of the Yemen's high levels of poverty and low levels of aid received from all donors, the UK decided in 2006 to scale up its support from £8 million in 2005-06 to £50 million by 2010-11. This year (2008-09) the UK programme is £20 million.